Eco-Sense Nursery – Year 3

Three years ago the Eco-Sense nursery idea was seeded. The idea grew out of our distress with the state of the world with respect to quality of food, ecological collapse, and looming economic insecurity. We wished to pursue a resilient lifestyle that could buffer these changes while providing excellent food, free of chemical contamination. At the same time it was essential to us that we love what we do and how we spend our days.

The nursery has certainly become one piece of this puzzle and now in our third year the business is thriving and Gord and I may actually be able to go to the dentist. woohoo! We combine our nursery income, with income from tours, speaking engagements, workshops, consultations, rain water installations, various small building projects, council work, and cleaning the public bathroom (humanure of course). This will be the start of the 6th year for the composting toilet contract…wow time flies… and better yet… no flies!.

We will continue with the Saturday open houses for sale of perennial edible plants for the rest of spring. Updated Plant List here. Prices include GST.

Saturdays from 10am-2pm at 3295 Compton Road, East Highlands

April 9, 16, 23, 30, May 7, 14, 21

If you can’t make the Saturday dates, send us an email to set up a time to visit the nursery to buy some plants. ann@eco-sense.ca

Plant Pots: We will buy your large pots in good condition. If you have lots we could pick up or if you just have a few you could bring them to one of our Saturday Farm sales or set up another time to drop off.

$0.50 for 2-4 gallon
$1.00 for 5-9 gallon
$1.50 for 10+ gallon

Chicken Runs: We have been converting our annual planted chicken runs with perennial plants. In the last few days we have planted 1 MULBERRY, 2 DWARF CHERRIES, 2 PEARS, 3 PLUMS, 2 HARDY KIWI, 8 COMFREY, and 5 BROAD LEAF FRENCH SORREL. (additions to the existing hazelnuts, figs, plum and mulberry). Each is secured like Fort Knox as the roots are a little chicken of fowl play. These perennials will help build the soil, be less work, and provide lots of dropped food (more bugs the better) for the chickens and us (hopefully not too many bugs). We are also going to down size our chicken flock to keep it at around 10 laying hens. This will be much easier on the land, less work for us, and less eggs to wash and sell. We easily sell our amazing eggs…but it’s not cost effective for the amount of time and the impact to the land. It probably works out to less than $1 per hour for our time. For now, we will still have some eggs for sale.

Strawberries for sale – Ever Bearing – $2 each

Other Chicken News: We have a broody chicken sitting on 12 eggs…this is the earliest we have ever had a chicken go broody. Due to hatch in 2 weeks. Gord only killed one of its potential kids when he dropped an egg while moving her to the broody box, (the same box we call the drunk tank where we place stoned chickens we find who have ingested mushrooms in the fall).

Eco-Sense Video of the Week: Here is a favourite video from WAY back with all of us building the Eco-Sense house. Such good memories. Knowledge Network 8 minute video filmed in 2007 and 2008. (Gord urges you NOT to watch… please no!)

Cob woodworking shop under construction

Eco-Sense Photo Memory of the Week: Cob wood working shop under construction.

Baird Council Initiative of the Week: This initiative was from last year, but Ann was quite happy to finally have the Highlands Sustainability Appraisal form updated with changes to the flows of Capital. The original form was a product of the first sustainability group that Ann participated in with 8 others many years ago. It’s a powerful 2 page planning tool for council and staff to use when assessing the capital flows between Natural, Human, Social, Financial, and Manufactured capital with any project being undertaken in the Highlands. Finally we are accounting for impacts to future generations, GHG emissions from loss of forest and soil, GHG’s from embodied energy in materials used in construction, loss of habitat for other species, and even inequality. Lots of changes made. Now we just have to use these results to inform our decision making.

Baird Council Failure of the week: Gord is in the process of having one of BC best speakers on the topic of climate change and municipal adaptation come and present. The initial pushback could mean imminent failure… despite the vast array of tools and knowledge that Deborah Harford, the Executive Director of SFU ACT has. Not a failure yet, but definitely some pushback.

AND A NOTICE for those waiting for GLOBE ARTICHOKES… they have arrived.